The TB NBA Playoff thread

[Gard]

There were also a few turnovers that were a bad call too, like the one where they said the ball bounced off Kobe's knee, and it didn't. Even the commentators pointed out instances of traveling, and 3 second violations that favored Magic. I think all and all there were bad calls, BUT it was pretty evenly spread out for both sides. So Gard, whatever happened to your Magic in 5 call?

The difference here is that it wasn't even a close call, Pietrus, went STRAIGHT UP on the play, and Bryant ran into him, should have been a no-call (technically, it should have been an offensive foul for charging, but let 'em play). The out of bounds play, that was tough to see in "real time" the ref made a mistake, not a BAD CALL that removed a valuable defender and pretty decent offensive player from the game.

As for the "in 5", I'm going with "in 6" now.

 

[elgecko]

Spent much time flying back and forth across the country lately?

I can tell you from experience, jet lag can be a real thing...I think it's a good setup.

I would like to retract my earlier statement about the 2-3-2 format "making sense". Had the series split in LA, the onus of winning 3 straight on the road doesn't seem like "home court advantage. Even now, if the lakers lose game 3 or 4, they have still have to play a 3rd straight game on the road.

Now a 3-2-2 format, THAT would be home court advantage!

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

The difference here is that it wasn't even a close call, Pietrus, went STRAIGHT UP on the play, and Bryant ran into him, should have been a no-call (technically, it should have been an offensive foul for charging, but let 'em play).

No, see, when Kobe ran into Pietrus, he yelled "hey-Hey-HEYYY!!!!" This is a signal to the refs that it was absolutely a foul on the defense... at least it has been for the past few years.

 

[Gard]

No, see, when Kobe ran into Pietrus, he yelled "hey-Hey-HEYYY!!!!" This is a signal to the refs that it was absolutely a foul on the defense... at least it has been for the past few years.

...oh man, you'd better hide, they're coming to get you for calling Bryant out like that, you KNOW he can do no wrong, right?

 

[bwv1013]

free throws were nearly identical, the lakers shot 1 more than the magic did. so much for a "home whistle." bad calls both ways for sure, but hard to blame this game on the refs.

if lee makes that last chip in shot, magic win. if magic make free throws down the stretch, they win. in the end, the lakers got lucky with some missed shots by the magic, but then they capitalized on it, that's how you win games and championships.

either way, lakers up 2-0!

 

[Gard]

free throws were nearly identical, the lakers shot 1 more than the magic did. so much for a "home whistle." bad calls both ways for sure, but hard to blame this game on the refs.

if lee makes that last chip in shot, magic win. if magic make free throws down the stretch, they win. in the end, the lakers got lucky with some missed shots by the magic, but then they capitalized on it, that's how you win games and championships.

either way, lakers up 2-0!

I agree that FOR THE MOST PART, the calls were fair and equal.

My beef is with the one that gave Pietrus #6, it was BS, a "you can't block Kobe!" foul if I ever saw one. I don't expect officiating to be perfect, but fouling out a hard working player that is at best "almost" fouling a star and taking one of the better Magic defenders (not to mention someone that can knock down 3's just fine!) off the court at the end of the game over that kind of ticky-tack garbage foul is just not OK.

Let them play!

Pietrus was no where near fouling Bryant on that play, and even a Laker homie needs to admit it.

That's fine if it's a 1st-4th foul, but a 5th or 6th foul...well, that's just FOUL. :scowl:

And yes, thanks to Lee being just a tiny bit off on that alley oop inbound pass, you are up 2-0 right now.

But you'd better be nervous, the Magic pushed them to the brink of 1-1 on the Lakers' home court, and they know they can play even with them. Now the Lakers gotta go 3 in a row on the Magic's turf. You better hope they steal one in Orlando, or it could get tight.

 

[Eric Perry]

...That's fine if it's a 1st-4th foul, but a 5th or 6th foul...well, that's just FOUL...

 

[bwv1013]

I agree that FOR THE MOST PART, the calls were fair and equal.

My beef is with the one that gave Pietrus #6, it was BS, a "you can't block Kobe!" foul if I ever saw one. I don't expect officiating to be perfect, but fouling out a hard working player that is at best "almost" fouling a star and taking one of the better Magic defenders (not to mention someone that can knock down 3's just fine!) off the court at the end of the game over that kind of ticky-tack garbage foul is just not OK.

Let them play!

Pietrus was no where near fouling Bryant on that play, and even a Laker homie needs to admit it.

That's fine if it's a 1st-4th foul, but a 5th or 6th foul...well, that's just FOUL. :scowl:

And yes, thanks to Lee being just a tiny bit off on that alley oop inbound pass, you are up 2-0 right now.

But you'd better be nervous, the Magic pushed them to the brink of 1-1 on the Lakers' home court, and they know they can play even with them. Now the Lakers gotta go 3 in a row on the Magic's turf. You better hope they steal one in Orlando, or it could get tight.

i didn't see the last foul on Pietrus, but phantom fouls certainly happen. i'll take your word for it. here's what seals the deal for me: by the time he fouled out, Pietrus went 1-3 for two points. 2 points and six fouls in 23 minutes. it's hard for me to believe that him fouling out had a significant effect on the game. I think Turkoglu did a better job of guarding Kobe anyway.

i don't think anyone in Lakerville is nervous, we're up 2-0. The "brink of 1-1" is hardly desperation. When all is said and done, the Lakers killed the Magic in game 1. In game 2 the Magic played a pretty good game, and the Lakers, with a bit of luck mind you, toughed out a win in overtime. The Magic have 5 games to win 4 against a team that has just beat them twice in a row. It will be a different series in Orlando for sure, but I don't see the Magic winning 3 in a row regardless of where they play.

Here's my summary after 2 games: The Lakers are playing their best basketball of the postseason, they've won 4 in a row and can smell the blood being 2 games away from a championship. The Magic have played well throughout the post season (I've been rooting for them since the Boston series), but had their momentum disrupted by the sudden addition of Jameer Nelson. Nothing against Nelson, but why fix what isn't broken? The story of the series so far is the Magic missing shots. They missed almost everything in game 1 and missed free throws/potential game winners in game 2. Meanwhile the Lakers are playing solid team basketball.

Game 2 was Orlando's best shot to take over the series and they couldn't deliver. I don't think the Lakers will sweep the series, but if they win even 1 game in Orlando the series is over.

 

[Eric Perry]

i didn't see the last foul on Pietrus, but phantom fouls certainly happen. i'll take your word for it. here's what seals the deal for me: by the time he fouled out, Pietrus went 1-3 for two points. 2 points and six fouls in 23 minutes. it's hard for me to believe that him fouling out had a significant effect on the game. I think Turkoglu did a better job of guarding Kobe anyway.

i don't think anyone in Lakerville is nervous, we're up 2-0. The "brink of 1-1" is hardly desperation. When all is said and done, the Lakers killed the Magic in game 1. In game 2 the Magic played a pretty good game, and the Lakers, with a bit of luck mind you, toughed out a win in overtime. The Magic have 5 games to win 4 against a team that has just beat them twice in a row. It will be a different series in Orlando for sure, but I don't see the Magic winning 3 in a row regardless of where they play.

Here's my summary after 2 games: The Lakers are playing their best basketball of the postseason, they've won 4 in a row and can smell the blood being 2 games away from a championship. The Magic have played well throughout the post season (I've been rooting for them since the Boston series), but had their momentum disrupted by the sudden addition of Jameer Nelson. Nothing against Nelson, but why fix what isn't broken? The story of the series so far is the Magic missing shots. They missed almost everything in game 1 and missed free throws/potential game winners in game 2. Meanwhile the Lakers are playing solid team basketball.

Game 2 was Orlando's best shot to take over the series and they couldn't deliver. I don't think the Lakers will sweep the series, but if they win even 1 game in Orlando the series is over.

While I want the magic to win, this pretty much sums it all up, IMO.

 

[jazzy grille]

Here's my summary after 2 games: The Lakers are playing their best basketball of the postseason, they've won 4 in a row and can smell the blood being 2 games away from a championship. The Magic have played well throughout the post season (I've been rooting for them since the Boston series), but had their momentum disrupted by the sudden addition of Jameer Nelson. Nothing against Nelson, but why fix what isn't broken? The story of the series so far is the Magic missing shots. They missed almost everything in game 1 and missed free throws/potential game winners in game 2. Meanwhile the Lakers are playing solid team basketball.

Game 2 was Orlando's best shot to take over the series and they couldn't deliver. I don't think the Lakers will sweep the series, but if they win even 1 game in Orlando the series is over.

I agree with the whole Jameer thing, they should start with Rafer and bench Jameer (Sorry Anthony).

IMHO, the only thing that the Lakers have going for them is the fact that they are "seasoned", their coach is a master and a good chunk of their team is already sporting rings.

Nobody really knows why the magic faulted these 2 games except them (I'm talking about the turn overs, missed shots and chokes), judging by their past performances they should have dominated. But, I am going to have to say that it is still the Jitters, not much of this team has even been past the conference finals and it shows (IMHO), while the Lakers are able to maintain composure.

 

[Jared Lash]

I agree with the whole Jameer thing, they should start with Rafer and bench Jameer (Sorry Anthony).

IMHO, the only thing that the Lakers have going for them is the fact that they are "seasoned", their coach is a master and a good chunk of their team is already sporting rings.

Nobody really knows why the magic faulted these 2 games except them (I'm talking about the turn overs, missed shots and chokes), judging by their past performances they should have dominated. But, I am going to have to say that it is still the Jitters, not much of this team has even been past the conference finals and it shows (IMHO), while the Lakers are able to maintain composure.

Agree on all points except Phil Jackson being a master. No one has yet shown me what he brings to the table other than inheriting teams that had Jordan/Pippen and O'Neal/Bryant. Hell, his calling card is the triangle offense and he got that from Tex Winters.

I'm not saying he's not a good coach. It isn't as if his teams have won 9 (soon to be 10) rings in spite of him. But I've never seen him elevate a team of lesser talent. And since he'll almost certainly retire after his tenure as the Lakers coach, we'll never see it.

Oh, and I said Lakers in 5 and I have yet to see anything to convince me that won't be the case. If anything, I'm wondering if Orlando has it in them to avoid being swept. At least if they do that they can say they did better than the 95 Magic (with Shaq) that got swept by Dream and the Rockets.

 

[bwv1013]

i had the same prediction before the series started, Lakers in 5. Unless they win again tomorrow, which may be the beginning of the end...

PJ is an excellent coach for what he does, taking good teams/players over the top to becoming champions. While there are some excellent coaches who have drastically improved "average" teams (Byron Scott and Rick Adelman come to mind...), PJ's niche is coaching superstars. In that respect he's the best in the business. As much as everyone talks about the triangle offense, the Lakers have relied more on Kobe reading defenses and taking advantage of capable teammates than actually running set plays. Chalk that up to good preparation and a team firing on all cylinders offensively. Team defense has been excellent as well.

 

[jazzy grille]

I like what I saw last night.

 

[GregC]

OK, that's a start.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Yep, it's a start. I was completely disgusted when at 1 minute left, Kobe got one of his obligatory phantom hey-Hey-HEY!!!! calls on a completely clean block by Howard. The refs have got to quit bailing people out on drives to the basket in the last 2 minutes. You know it's too prevalent when the announcers are calling "Kobe to the basket to try to draw a foul" before the ball is even inbounded. Fortunately, the ball didn't completely lie on the free throw attempts. Hedo and Pietrus made some great plays down the stretch. Alston is completely and not surprisingly outplaying Nelson, and I think Van Gumby is figuring that out. Let's see what happens next.

 

[Gard]

I was completely disgusted when at 1 minute left, Kobe got one of his obligatory phantom hey-Hey-HEY!!!! calls on a completely clean block by Howard.

That's OK, Howard CHUMPED Bryant on the next possession when he poked the ball out of his hands. Kobe looked like he was expecting everyone to get out of his way, because he's Kobe of course, and was obviously annoyed at the nerve that ANYONE would dare to actually play defense against him when he was about to go all "Kobe" to pull the win out.



Oh, and Gasol being an idiot when he could have just held the ball and called a timeout was cute too. The Lakers are not the anointed ones, folks.

Bryant is great, probably the best player in the game now, and potentially one of the best to ever play it. However, he does get far too many "you can't do that to Kobe!" fouls for my taste, just like MJ did back in his time.

:scowl:

What I love is that the Magic didn't even blink when it happened, they just played the game.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Bryant is great, probably the best player in the game now, and potentially one of the best to ever play it. However, he does get far too many "you can't do that to Kobe!" fouls for my taste, just like MJ did back in his time.

Agreed on both counts.

 

[bwv1013]

Kobe gets calls by driving to the hoop and being aggressive, nothing new there, it's part of the game. Meanwhile "Superman" could have fouled out on illegal screens alone last night. "Superstar calls" have been going both ways, i.e. Derek Fisher getting a foul for having the audacity to challenge Howard for a rebound.

The Magic won a game, how about some celebratory bragging? Are you guys actually fans or do you just hate the Lakers?

 

[Eric Perry]

...The Magic won a game, how about some celebratory bragging? Are you guys actually fans or do you just hate the Lakers?...

I'm a Jazz fan to the core. I neither like nor dislike the Magic. I have no problem being honest: I hate the Lakers. I dislike the franchise (in the same way I hate the Dallas Cowboys franchise), I loathe Bryant and Phil Jackson and their holier than though attitudes. Farmar, Walton, and Vujacic annoy me for unknown reasons. I have no opinion on Fisher, Odom, and Bynum. I like Pau Gasol.

 

[GregC]

The Magic won a game, how about some celebratory bragging? Are you guys actually fans or do you just hate the Lakers?

Are you getting on our case for not trash-talking? Only in So Cal.

Bottom line, it's only 1 win and it was a close one. The only thing to brag about is, uh...hey, SVG is a genius for realizing he shouldn't play Redick.